Rail frog



April 13,1926. 1,580,108

D. E. ANDERSON RA'ILFROG I Filed March 27. 1922 2 Sh'ets-Sheet '1 /nven75k Oar/d E Aflc/ersO. by wp ggm q his AfTorney;

A ril 13, 1926.

D. E. ANDERSON R'AIL FROG Filed latch 27. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /m enT0/" DOV/0 E Andersbn. 09. 7 x

his Afiomey object to provide a device for supporting Patented Apr. 13, 1926..

UNITED STATES navn) E. annnnson, or sr. rant, nimtnsorn.

BA-IL FROG.

Application fled larch '27, 1922- Eerial No. 547,186.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID E. ANnEnsoN, a citizen of the United States, residin at St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and tate of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Rail Frogs, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to rail frogs such as are used'in railway tracks and has for its the point of thefrog so that-.the same does not sag thereby eliminating excess wear on the wing rails of the frog;

Another object is to form the point 'of the frog with beveled surfaces providingshoulders beneath the same, which shoulders are adapted to en age throughout the entire length of the frog point against ridges or beads formed on the. filler block of thefrogby means of which the load imparted to the frog point is transmitted through the filler block and to the wing rails so that the same are at all times in the same elevation in relation to frog point thereby preventing battering of the wing rails as the car wheels pass through the frog. 1 j

Another-object 's to provide a device by means of which existing frogs may be repaired so .as to support the fro point throughout itsentire length on t e filler block of the frog. Y I

The full objects. and advantages of my invention will appear in connection with the detailed description thereof and are particularly pointed out in the claims. In the drawings, illustrating the application of my invention in .one form Fig. 1 is a plan view of a frog showing my invention a plied thereto- Fig. 2 is a p an view of a portion of the frog points removed from the frog proper and drawn to a larger scale.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the long frog point shown in Figure 2.

Fi 4- is a plan view of the filler block about six or eight inches at the extreme end The point 16 is ofthe same. This permits the said end to I drop due to the weight of the wheels'of the car's upon the same, which when .the same is 1n a loweredposition causes the wheels to lnt the adjacent wing rails and to. wear the same down so that in ordinary use the life of a frog is considerably short of one year.

In my invention I sup ort the frog point throughout its entire ength "so that the welght of. the wheel is transmitted through the filler block to the adjacent wing rails 1 thereby maintaining the elevation of. the

,wing rails and the frog point the same dur- ,ing any position of the car wheels upon the frog. The manner of carrying out my mvention is as follows.

. In Figure 1, I have shown a frog of ordi nary construction having nay-invention applied thereto. This frog consists of a pan. of wing rails 10'and 11, which are secured together at one end by a filler block 12 and at its other end by a filler block 13 having an opening formed along the'center of the same as indicated at 14 in Figure 4. -Within the openin 14.- is positioned 9. Ion frog point 15 an a short :frog 16 which are lted together at their point of union and held in proper relation at their other ends by means of a filler block 17. The entire structure is bolted together in .the customary manner with bolts, which have not been shown in detail in the'drawings, and maybe spiked to I ties or other suitable foundation as is now customary in the practise of. track laying.

The construction of the frog points15 and j 16 can best be seen in Figure 2. For forming point ing a I is first heatedand bent at 18 tovv bring the extreme end 25 of its web falls in alinement with the side 26 of the head 21 of said point.

out on a diagonal line partly indicated at; 27 so that the upper face of the said rail head lies flush with the adjacent face of the head then planed in a planer and 15, an ordinary rail is provided hav- 5 base 20, a head 21 and a web' '22, which .95 treme end 23 of the web of the same substantially in alinement with'the side 19 of-the head '21 of said rail. The shorter point 16 is i bent in a similar way at 24 so that the exsame with beveled faces indicated at 28 and 29, which faces form shoulders 31 on the underside of the point, said shoulders being of a substantial width at the extreme end of the point and increasing backwardly of the point to the full width allowed by the uncut rail head. At the same time the upper face of the frog point is formed rail point 15 and wing rail 10 and between the rail point 16 and wing rail 11 respec-' tively. These branches are provided with fillets 34, 35, 36, 37, and 38, which are adapted to engage under the respective rail heads to hold the same in lace so that when the structure is clamped together by bolts or other means a unitary and rigid structure is provided. In the usual construction of frogs the extreme ends 39 and 40 of fillets 35 and 38 usually taper to a point from three to four inches back of the extreme end of opening 14 so that due to the absence of any supporting means on the extreme end of the frog point and due to the lack of said fillets on the filler block the point is ordinarily left free to deflect downwardly so as to injure the faces of the adjacent wlng rails upon the passage of car wheels through the frog. In my invention it can clearly be seen that the fillets 39 and 40 are adapted to lie under the shoulders 31 of the frog point so that the same is supported throughout its entire length to the extreme point thereof, u on the said filler block 13, which when t e weight of the car wheel rests upon the extreme end of said frog, is transmitted through said filler block 13 and to the wing rails 10 and 11 thereby maintaining the elevation of said point and wing rail the same for any position of the wheels upon the frog.

By constructing frogs in accordance with my invention the life of the same is greatly increased. In addition the supporting strength of the point of the frog is substantially increased so that the battering and wearing down of the same is greatly reduced. This has the effect of iving increased service to the frog and reducing the possibilities of accident in the operation of the trains over the tracks and also reduces the track maintenance. t

For ap lying my invention to an already existing rog or in' repairing a worn-out frog of the ordinary type I proceed as follows. If the wing rails 10 and 11 are only slightly worn the depressions may be filled up by welding on metal with an acetylene b low torch and thereafter grinding the same down to a uniform level to the top of the rail. If the said wing rails are worn considerably the same are preferably replaced by new rails. In addition the long point 15 of the block is completely removed and a new point substituted which is built in accordance with my invention having the inclined surfaces with the supporting shoulders formed in conjunction with the. same. This point is secured to the short point 16 and the entire structure mounted between the wing rails 10 and 11 and the filler blocks 13 and 17 as in the ordinary construction of a frog. For increasing the length of fillets 39 and 40 to support the extreme end 30 of point 15 throughout its entire length I built up said fillets by means of the acetylene blow torch beneath shoulders 31 as clearly shown at 41 and 42' in Figure 6. This has the effect of producing the same results as with a new frog constructed in accordance with my'invention. By this means considerable economy is involved due to the fact that the expensive parts of the frog, particularly the filler blocks, can be used over again thus effecting a considerable saving in the cost of track maintenance.

The advantages of my invention are manifest. A perfectly rigid structure is provided which will wear evenly through its entire length thereby greatly increasing the life of the frog and at the same time reducing the cost of maintenance and repairin connection with the same. In the construction of my improved frog very little additional expense 1s involved so thatthe said frog may be sold at substantially the same price as articles of a similar nature already on the market.

In accordance with the patent statutes li have described the principles of operation of my invention, together with the apparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, but I desire to have it understood that the construction shown is only illustrative andthat the invention can be carried out by "other means and applied to uses other than those above set forth within the scope of the following claims. I

I claim 1. In combination with a frog having a pair-of wing rails, a filler block positioned between the same, a frog point positioned within said filler block and means for supporting said frog point upon the filler block throughout: its'entire length and to its extreme end so that the loads superimposed upon said point are transmitted through said filler block and to said wing rails to maintain the same elevation for said frog and wing rails for any location of said'load upon the frog.

2. In combination with the filler block of a. frog, a frog point, and means for supporting said frog point throughout its entire. length to the extreme end thereof upon said filler block.

,3. In combination witha filler block, a frog point attached thereto, said frog point having shoulders formed along the same, said shoulders extending throughout the length of said frog point and being of a" substantial width at ,the extreme pointed end thereof, and means" formed on' said filler block for supporting said shoulders throughout their entire length.

4. In combination with a filler block, a

frog point attached thereto, said frog point having shoulders formed along the same,- sa'rd shoulders extending throughout the I length of said frog point and being of a substantial width at the extreme pointed end thereof, and fillets formed onsaid filler block for supporting said frog point by means of said shouldersthroughout the entire length of said frog point. Y

5. In combination with the filler block of a frog, a frog point formed of a rail section having a head and base thereof tapered to provide a point, said head being cut on an incline to provide shoulders on the under-' .side thereof throughout the entire length of the frog point,- and means on said filler block 4 for supporting said frog point by means of said shoulders. v

6. A frog point formed of a rail section having the upper face at the extreme pointed end thereof of a width substantially equal to the width of the'web of the rail, inclined downwardly divergingsides formed on the head of said rail of a width at the lower portion of said sides appreciably in excess ofthe widthof the rail web to form subf sides appreciablyin excess of the width of the rail web to form shoulders throughout the entire length of the fro point, and means formed on said filler b ock for supporting said 'frog point throughout its entire length.

8. In combination with a filler block of a frog point formed of a rail section having the upper face in the extreme pointed end; of a width substantially equal to the Width of the web of the rail, inclined downwardly diverging sides formed on the head of saidrail of a width at the lower portion of said sides appreciably -1I1- excess of the width of the rail web to form shoulders throu'hout the entire length of the frog point, and ets formed on said filler block engaging the underside of said shoulders throu hout their entire length in order to support t e extreme pointed'end of said frog point.

9. A frog" oint formed of a rail section having shoul ers extendin the entire length y'all portions of of said frogpoint where orted.

said trogpoint may be sup DAVID E. ANDERSON.

In testimony whereof I a w my signature. 

